Test-taker insights for language assessment policies and practices

Language assessment accommodations: Issues and challenges for the future

“…This is crucial in ensuring that test accommodations are appropriately designed and used and that the scores generated by accommodated tests are properly interpreted, to safeguard access, equity, and inclusion as part of a broader commitment to fairness and social justice. It is notable that Kim et al’s (2023) suggestions for improving the universal tools provision draw directly on feedback from test takers in their interviews (Yan, 2022), giving welcome substance to the oft-quoted maxim associated with the disability community—“nothing about us without us.”…”

Forty years of Language Testing, and the changing paths of publishing

“…We hope you enjoy reading these authors’ visionary pieces as much as we did. This year’s Virtual Special Issue was compiled by Yan Jin, and the introduction to it appears in this issue (Jin, 2023). Jin synthesized research from Language Testing to showcase how test takers can help guide language assessment policies and practices to ensure that tests are equitable, fair, and construct-relevant.…”

Rethinking student placement to enhance efficiency and student agency

“…Despite these results, we plan to continue to use the binary judgements DSP task in our final test, first and foremost because of the positive responses of the students to this task and the possibilities of having their judgements included. Our field has been increasingly recognising the inherent value of including test taker voices (Jin, 2023). In addition, having students observe typical course performances and reflect on how their own language abilities compare may represent an active learning process, a modest opportunity for assessment as learning (AaL).…”